Combination panty-brassiere



y 6, 1954 L. BOjNNETT 2,682,662

COMBINATION PANTY-BRASSIERE Filed May 25, 1953 Patented July 6, 1954 UNITED STATES RATENT OFFICE 1 Claim.

The present invention relates to a combination undergarment for women, the general character of which may be indicated by calling it a combination pantie and brassiere.

Conventional womens underdress consists of panties and brassires, a slip and occasionally a girdle. This conventional dress involves certain difiiculties.

In the first place, girdles are very tight fitting garments and are difiicult to get on and off, especially when worn next to the skin and when the skin happens to be somewhat moist, such as immediately following the bath.

Another difficulty with girdles is that a girdle causes any slight tendency to fleshiness (even in a woman of ordinary build) to appear above the upper edge of the girdle, where it bulges outwardly and distorts the proper waistline. Another thing, in connection with ordinary wear, is that the brassiere, especially when worn with a girdle, tends to ride upwardl or downwardly depending upon the movements of the wearer. Also, where the weight of the bust is supported by the brassiere cups, the brassiere tends to pull down in front, drawing the shoulder straps toward the front and lifting the back of the brassiere.

Another difficulty -of present wear is that, where the woman wears a thin blouse with brassiere and panties, and even sometimes with a slip, the midrifi tends to show through the blouse.

All of these disadvantages are overcome by the present garment. As stated, the garment may be generally described as a combination of panties and brassire. However, the description is not complete because it is essential to this garment that it have the combination of panties and brassiere with a snug, elastic midrifi" section, and also preferably with a relatively high back to the brassire, the top line of which corresponds to the conventional brassiere strap extending around at the middle of the brassire, The brassiere is one providing bust support because the garment can advantageously provide such in view of the non-sag features previously mentioned.

It is not critical which style of panties be employed, although in the present illustration the short-legged panties are shown. The pantie section is made of snug fitting, elastic material. There should be a readily accessible crotch opening, and desirably there should be one as hereinafter described which is easily accessible, and yet which when closed provides that the garment fits as Well as a pair of ordinary panties. There may be a side or front opening to the upper part of the garment.

Other features will appear from the description to follow.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective elevation of the garment on a female figure, taken from about a threequarter front view;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the garment apart from the figure, with the upper opening slightly opened and with the crotch portion turned up to illustrate the fashioning thereof.

Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the garment without the female figure, partly broken away at the left to show the breast pocket construction;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-- i of Fig. 2, illustrating a breast pocket; and

Fig. 5 is a view of the crotch portion shown in open condition.

The garment, generally indicated at l6, comprises three sections, a lower pantie section II, a midi-iii section It, .and a brassiere section I3.

The three sections are formed into a single garment and are made of some stretchable material, preferably nylon tricot, except the brassiere, which is of nylon cloth for better breast control. The nylon is advantageous for the known reasons of ready washability and. the like, but also because of its smooth character that would permit a girdle to be drawn on over it quite readily. Tricot is employed because it provides some degree of support owing to its resiliency and elasticity.

The pantie section I l is here illustrated as 'being of the short pantie variety.

The pantie and midriff portions II and I2 are here shown as made together out of the same pieces of material. In this design, there is a left side panel H and a right side panel [8 that are mirror twins. The two pieces are joinedL along a front seam i9 and a rear seam 26. At their lower ends, they are stitched to a double thickness crotch insertZZ along a front seam 23 and a back seam 2%. The front seam is provided with a suitable crotch opening 25 that has snap fasteners 26 or other suitable fastening means so that it can be readily opened.

The sides of the two pieces l1 and [6 may be taken in by seams 29 and 36, respectively, to

draw in the waist and midriff of the garment.

At the front, the two panels I? and I8 extend upwardly to the brassiere section 13.

The panel I! extends upwardly at the front to form a curved edge 33. Panel It has a similar edge 34. The two edges 33 and 34 provide two medial, upwardly-tapering parts 35 and 36 that extend upwardly between the breast portions. The garment illustrated has a front opening, and

3 so the portions 35 and 36 are joined by a zipper 31 projecting down through the midrifi 12.

The upper edges 33 and 34 of the panels I1 and i8 curve downwardly from the middle, and then outwardly and upwardly, finally reaching top edges 39 and 40 that form the top edge of the garment at the back.

Breast cups 4! and 42 are mounted on the front of the garment, and are mirror copies of each other. Cup 4| is stitched onto the panel i1. Its inner edge 43 overlies the upwardly extending part 35 of the panel l7. Its bottom edge 44 is below the edge 33 of the panel ll. Its side edge 45 is stitched to the panel H in a vertical underarm seam. In like manner, the cup 42 has an inner edge 48, a bottom edge 49, and a side edge 50. The side edges 45 and 50 thus cause the upper hems of the two panels I! and I8, at the back, to apply lateral tension to the two cups 4! and 42, and to cause the panel portions inside the cups, including the upper curved edges 33 and 34, to provide breast support.

Shoulder straps 5i and 52 connect the cups 4i and 42 with the back of the panels l! and [8, as illustrated.

Use of the garment As illustrated and as previously stated, the garment is preferably of the two panels of nylon tricot and nylon cloth for the brassiere, and in any event should be of material that provides a fairly tight-fitting but elastic midrifi section 12. Being of nylon material, the garment can readily be worn under a girdle because the girdle can be pulled over it.

Therefore, frequently the garment will be put on before any other garment. To this end, the zipper 3? will be opened and the garment can be pulled up over the legs and onto the shoulders, whereupon the zipper is again drawn up.

Worn thus, the garment provides panties and it provides a brassiere. Not only that, it does so with a certain amount of what might be termed flesh support-in the midriff section, and it also provides a secure brassiere arrangement because of several features. First, any efiort of the breasts to sag and draw the brassire part downwardly in front is counteracted by the fact that the straps 5! and 52 of the brassiere are secured to the upper section of the two panels I? and it at the rear, and therefore are, in efiect, connected all the way to the seat of the garment, thus resisting any tendency to be pulled down. Additionally, the snug fitting of the knitted parts of the panels ll and I8 at the rear, drawing the front parts of the brassiere section tightly, aids in preventing sag at the bust portion of the garment.

Also, the brassiere section, coming up as it does to a point as high as the normal brassire straps and having a tight, elastic fit, supports the fleshy parts under the arms and at the back of the wearer, as well as in the actual midriff section.

Preferably, the pantie parts should be tight fitting and elastic, which will follow when they are made of nylon tricot.

A girdle may be easily pulled up over the outside of this garment. This is facilitated by the character of the nylon material and also by the snug-fitting character of the pantie section. By this arrangement, the girdle may be pulled on more readily than it can be pulled on over the bare skin, because of the moisture that is always present on the skin which makes the girdle hard to pull up. The opening 25 is always readily accessible, even when the girdle is in place.

The girdle will reach approximately to the waist, or perhaps slightly below the waistline. When a girdle is in place on the normally filled out figure, it tends to squeeze the flesh out above it, which makes ridges of flesh in the midrifi section. With the fairly tight midriff section that is provided by the present garment, and especially with that tight midriff section continuously connected with the pantie section of like material all around the garment, and with the continuous connection into the brassiere section all around the garment, so that flesh containment results all the way from the middle of the bust down to the crotch, a trim figure is attained, with desirable support.

The garment overcomes the disadvantages of prior garments, and adds the advantages above mentioned and described. Specifically, it afiords a unique pantie, midriff and brassiere combination ideal for use under a girdle, and valuable in any case with or without the girdle.

\Vhat is claimed is:

An undergarment comprising three sections joined into a unit, there being a pantie section, a midriit section, and a brassiere section; the pantie section merging into the midrifif section and the latter having a snug fit and being made or" material of elastic quality such as nylon tricot, so that it may contain the midriff of the wearer and trim the figure but not confine the same as a girdle, and may be worn with a girdle to aid in reducing projections of flesh above the girdle, an opening through the midrifi section and a closure therefor, to enable the garment to be put on; the brassiere section extending from the upper part of the midriff section, the back of the garment extending upward to the middle of the brassiere section, and shoulder straps from that back of the garment to the brassiere section; the pantie section being continuously connected to the midrifi section all around the garment, and the midriff section being continuously connected with-the brassiere section all around the garment.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,290,954 Fox July 28, 1942 2,443,225 Cadous June 15, 1948 2,545,743 Morin Mar. 30, 1951 2,583,472 Cooley Jan. 22, 1952 2,648,070 Blank Aug. 11, 1953 

